Ghostwriter: The College Years (Episodes 3 and 4)
by A. R. Chwa
Summary: Episode 3 - Y2K - The team discovers Hector has a secret and set out to protect him from an operation going on down New Year's Eve. Episode 4 - My Daughter, My Son - Gaby works on a history paper and unexpectedly solves a mystery while doing so.
1. Chapter 1

Y2K (Winter 1999/2000) – PART ONE

Gaby sighed as she ran the store alone, flipping around the postcard from Hector. She looked over when Alex came in, blowing on his hands.

"Hey rookie," she said. "Anything interesting today?"

"A couple of shoplifters," Alex shrugged. "Trying to bug out with some high-end toys for Christmas. How about you?"

"Nothing," Gaby sighed. "It's been so _boring_ here since Hector went to Philadelphia. I've read his postcard over fifty times now."

"Yeah," Alex said. "I got one too…and was reading it while we were patrolling the neighborhood. But he didn't say much."

"I know," Gaby said. "And he was getting…I dunno…kinda weird…before he left."

"I sort of noticed that too," Alex said. "But he never said anything was different. Just that he was excited to go to this family reunion."

"Yeah," Gaby said. "But he seemed like…he was hiding something. I almost wonder if…"

Gaby paused as Alex raised an eyebrow.

"If what?"

"Well…do you think Hector…might've had a crush on me?"

Alex raised his other eyebrow.

"I dunno," he said. "He never talked much about girls…although I would think he's old enough to uh…start taking an interest, you know?"

"Yeah," Gaby said. "He thought girls were gross when you first started mentoring him."

"He was also nine," Alex pointed out. "When a guy reaches fourteen…things are different."

"But he might also be reluctant to admit it," Gaby said. "I mean…Rob didn't tell Lenni what he was thinking for _years_."

"Rob was also shy…and kept moving around," Alex said. "Hector isn't shy though. If he liked you, I'm thinking he'd have said something by now."

Alex then gave a sly grin.

"Does this mean…you like him?"

"I'm only wondering," Gaby said. "He was acting like…he was jealous…anytime Victor came by the store."

"Well Victor _does_ like you," Alex said. "Although I still think you're too young for him."

"I'm not interested in Victor," Gaby said. "And not because of his age. I just don't find him all that attractive."

"Just as well," Alex said. "He's starting to talk to _Jasmine_."

"Jasmine?" Gaby asked. "Does Jamal know?"

"Not sure," Alex said. "He's been in Texas. But Jasmine and Victor are in the same building…and she's been making food for him and his brother. According to Rob, Victor would starve to death otherwise."

Gaby laughed as Rob came into the bodega, grabbing a basket.

"What?" Gaby asked. "Did Lenni give you a grocery list?"

"No," Rob said, rolling his eyes. "_Calvin_ did."

"Say what?" Alex asked. "Why don't he do his _own_ shopping?"

"He doesn't have a girlfriend that lives above a grocery store."

Alex and Gaby laughed as Rob continued shopping. Gaby then looked at her postcard again.

"You hear from Hector too?"

"Of course," Rob said. "Just because I came back doesn't mean he can drop his promise. I still send him letters…and he has to write back."

"You know," Alex said, rubbing his chin. "Maybe _he_ knows."

"Knows what?" Rob asked.

"I was just wondering if Hector had a crush on me," Gaby shrugged.

Rob raised his eyebrows.

"Well…he had a crush…but not on you," he said.

Gaby's eyes widened.

"But…who was it then?"

"I'm not at liberty to say."

Alex and Gaby looked at each other as Rob grabbed a box of cereal and then brought the basket to the counter. Gaby rung him up as Alex cocked his head.

"Interesting that Hector told _you_ about it and not me," he said.

"Well it was a while ago," Rob said. "I was still in Australia…so he felt safe telling me about it."

"About…what?"

"He'll tell you when he's ready," Rob said. "It's actually doing him some good…being in Philadelphia for a while."

Rob picked up the groceries as Alex checked his watch.

"Have fun with Booger-Bat," Alex said. "I gotta pick up Tina."

Rob made a face as both of them left and Gaby let out a sigh.

"How come everyone has someone but me?"

The next day, Gaby sighed as she walked home from her karate class. She smiled as the ball of light floated along next to her.

_Why are you so sad?_

Gaby sighed again and sat down on a bench, taking out her notebook.

_I guess I'm sad because I don't have a boyfriend like Tina and Lenni do._

Ghostwriter read the message and wrote back.

_Be strong and confident. The right guy will take notice at the right time._

Gaby nodded, glad that she at least had Ghostwriter. She then looked up and saw a familiar young man doing karate kicks near the playground.

"Jamal!"

Jamal turned around and laughed.

"Hey!" he said. "It's the Gabster!"

Gaby ran over to him and gave him a hug, letting him swing her around.

"When did you get back?" she asked.

"Last night," Jamal said. "My flight got delayed…so it was pretty late. Why I slept in today."

"You should've come to karate though," Gaby said. "Class just let out."

"I suppose," Jamal said. "I've gotten out of karate since I got to Texas. Haven't had time to find a dojo offering classes."

"Well you'd better be careful," Gaby said, crossing her arms. "I'm taking my brown belt test next week."

"Brown belt already?"

"Yep," she grinned. "Like this."

Gaby was soon sparring with Jamal in the park, although carefully so they wouldn't actually hit each other. Even so, Gaby came close and Jamal did a roll in the grass and jumped up again.

"Sorry," Gaby said.

"No problem," Jamal sighed, brushing himself off. "But yeah…I'm out of practice."

"Better get back in shape before Gaby beats you up."

Gaby turned around and saw Rob grinning at them.

"Where you been?" Jamal asked. "I was waiting for you."

"I've been sitting here for fifteen minutes," Rob said, cocking his head. "But I guess Gaby's better looking than I am."

Gaby rolled her eyes but Jamal grinned at her.

"I guess she is," he said.

Gaby raised her eyebrows and then noticed Rob had a suitcase with him.

"Where you going?" she asked.

"He's staying with me over the break," Jamal said. "Dorms are closed."

"Why can't you just stay with Lenni?" Gaby asked.

Rob stared at her with wide-eyes as Jamal shook his head.

"I doubt Lenni trusts him enough to let him stay there," he said.

"She was actually open to the idea," Rob said. "But _I_ don't trust me enough to let mestay there."

Gaby giggled and followed them as they made their way to Jamal's house. They passed the police station and saw Alex getting out of a patrol car, waving to them.

"Something must be up," Gaby said.

They went over to Alex who whispered to them.

"Call a rally at 4:30," he said. "Just got a hot tip."

"Why 4:30?" Jamal asked.

"I'm still on duty," Alex said, closing the door. "And I want to see if I can get any more information."

"About what?" Rob asked.

"You'll see," Alex said.

They looked at each other and went over to Jamal's house. Rob got his stuff set up in Jamal's room as Gaby visited with Grandma Cece and wound up helping her make some cornbread. After putting it in the oven, she saw the message flashing _Rally J_ and went to the living room. A few minutes later, Lenni had arrived with Tina.

"Hey guys," Gaby said.

"What's the rally for?" Tina asked.

"Alex said he got a tip," Gaby said. "He should be over once he clocks out."

The other two went upstairs as Gaby waited. A few minutes later, she let her brother in.

"So what's the scoop?" she asked, as they went upstairs.

"You'll see."

Everyone gathered in Jamal's room and Lenni almost laughed.

"This room is getting smaller," she said.

"Well we're all getting taller," Jamal said. "So what's going on, Alex?"

"There's rumors of this protest group heading for New York," Alex said. "They're going through different cities and harassing people. The chief gave us a list of people who may be targeted by these guys and told us to keep an eye on them."

"But…why do you need _us_ for that?" Gaby asked.

"Because," Alex said. "Hector's name was on it."

The girls gasped as Jamal and Rob looked at each other.

"But why Hector?" Gaby cried.

Alex bit his lip and looked at Rob, who narrowed his eyes.

"What kind of people does this group normally go after?" he asked.

"Queers…gays…and lesbians," Alex sighed.

"But…but Hector isn't gay…is he?" Tina asked.

Gaby almost answered but closed her mouth. She turned to look at Rob, who let out his breath.

"Actually…he is."


	2. Chapter 2

Y2K – PART TWO

Everyone stared at Rob, who shook his head.

"He wasn't ready to tell you guys yet," he said.

"But he told _you_?" Lenni asked. "You don't even support homosexuality."

The rest of the team looked at Rob, who gave a shrug.

"That's exactly what brought it up," he said. "Hector wanted to know if I would still be his friend if he was gay."

"And what did you say?" Jamal asked, peering at him.

"I said I would be," Rob said. "Just because I don't agree with his lifestyle doesn't mean we can't be friends. And it certainly doesn't mean I'm going to harass people who happen to live that way."

The others looked at each other as Alex shook his head.

"But why didn't he ever tell _us_?" he asked.

"I told him that he needed to," Rob sighed. "_You_ especially. But he was still scared. He's had enough trouble with bullies as it is."

"But…we wouldn't turn our backs on Hector," Gaby sighed. "Even if he _is_ gay."

Rob smiled.

"I told him that too," he said. "Dumbest thing _I_ ever did was turn my back on you guys. He got a long detailed description of the tunnel incident."

"Wait a minute," Alex said. "Hector _was_ asking me about that. Wanted to know how we finally found you."

"Well I couldn't tell him much about that part," Rob said. "I was sitting in that tunnel the whole time…asking myself why I was so dumb as to turn down help when I really needed it."

"Rob," Lenni said, touching his arm.

"I know," he said, smiling at her. "In any case, I had a great story to tell Hector so he could understand that he can depend on you guys. He _did_ say he'd let you guys know first…when he was finally comfortable enough to come out with it."

"But…how did these people find out about him?" Jamal asked.

"I looked at some of the known members," Alex frowned. "One of them is this guy, George. He used to bully Hector before."

"Anyone else that we know?" Tina asked.

"Yeah," Alex said. "Janice Hall."

"Janice?" Jamal asked.

"Also known as Max Mouse," Lenni frowned.

"Oh right," Rob said. "You wrote to me about that. Fell out of my chair when I read that it was _Janice_."

"She's probably using her computer skills again," Tina said.

"Most likely," Alex said. "I didn't recognize anyone else."

"You got a copy of the list?" Jamal asked.

"I'm uh…not allowed to take stuff like that out of the station," Alex said. "But I know _how_ we can get our own copy."

The others grinned and nodded as Alex typed to Ghostwriter, asking him to get both the list of known group members and also the list of potential targets. Ghostwriter returned with them and Tina copied the names down.

"But…I know some of these people," Tina said. "On the potential victims list. And they're _not_ lesbians."

"Are you sure?" Lenni asked. "Sometimes a person is…and doesn't come out with it right away. Just like Hector."

"Well I'm sure about a few," Tina said. "They have boyfriends."

"But…wait a minute," Rob said. "_Victor's_ name is on this list. And he's _definitely_ not gay."

"Are _you_ sure?" Tina asked.

"Oh I'm sure," Rob said. "He'd have made a pass at me by now if he was."

"Rob!" Lenni protested.

"Just sayin'," Rob said. "But see…some of those names…might be people who aren't…but someone who _is…_is interested in them."

The others looked at each other and Gaby jumped up.

"Wait a minute," she said. "Hector was always jealous…when Victor came into the store. But I always thought it was because he liked _me_."

She looked at Rob, who gave a smile.

"You didn't hear it from me," he said.

"So what's our plan?" Jamal asked.

"Well…we do know a couple of these people," Alex said. "Maybe we can follow them…to find the ringleader. Chief said the others will disperse if we catch the guy in charge."

"That'd be awful dangerous," Tina said.

"True," said Jamal. "And Janice would recognize us. We caught her when she was hacking into the school computer."

"But she wouldn't recognize _me_," Rob said. "I was in Australia already."

"But Rob…"

"Lenni…we already talked about this…"

Lenni gave an exasperated groan as Rob shook his head. Gaby raised her eyebrows.

"Talked about…what?"

"Oh…we made a deal that we wouldn't be over-protective of each other when working on a case," Lenni said. "Although it was _him_ that was more concerned about _me_."

"Goes both ways," Rob said. "And if we can't agree, one of you guys can make the call."

Lenni crossed her arms and Jamal nodded.

"Well in this case," he said. "I think Rob's right. He's the only one that can tail Janice, as he wasn't here for the Max Mouse case."

"Oh…fine," Lenni sighed.

"What about George?" Alex asked. "I'm the only one that knows what he looks like…but he'd recognize me."

"That's not true," Gaby said. "Hector pointed him out to me once."

"But Gaby…"

"Can we make the same deal Rob and Lenni did?"

Alex frowned and turned to Jamal, who rubbed his chin.

"Gaby's got a point," he said.

"Jamal!" Alex protested.

But Jamal held up a finger.

"But so do you," he said. "So I will go with Gaby to make sure this George guy doesn't hurt her."

"All right," Alex said. "I'd better go see Victor…and warn him."

"What about us?" Tina asked.

"We can stay here and send out Ghostwriter to find more clues," Lenni said.

Rob used clues from Ghostwriter to find Janice Hall, who was using an internet café. He sat down to use a computer across from her, watching her reflection in the screen. At the same time, Gaby pointed out George to Jamal, a large round guy who was scoping out the park with a pair of binoculars.

"Man," Jamal said. "He's huge."

"Yeah," said Gaby. "Look. He's moving."

"Gaby…you really should stay here," Jamal said. "I know what he looks like now."

"Jamal, it's too late to send me back now," Gaby said. "I'm going with you."

Jamal sighed but they tailed George. He went into an old warehouse, so Jamal and Gaby climbed up to the scaffolding around the walls. George went to Janice Hall, who said something to him.

"Rob might show up too," Jamal whispered.

Gaby nodded but then clapped a hand over her mouth.

"He just did."

Jamal tried not to moan out loud as George and several others dragged Rob into the warehouse. Janice Hall blew a bubble of gum as she walked over to him.

"Well well," she said. "Looks like the kangaroo bounced back from Australia."

Rob said nothing as he struggled against George and the others. Janice smiled as she held up a magazine.

"You think I don't know about your famous girlfriend?" she asked. "Same one that caught me last time?"

Rob swallowed hard as Janice narrowed her eyes.

"How nice of you to help me finally get revenge on Lenni Frazier."

Janice turned to George, blowing another bubble.

"Lock him up," she said. "I know just what to do with him."

"What about the orders from…you know who?" George asked.

"We're still on schedule for Y2K," Janice said. "This is personal."

George and the others dragged Rob into an office. Jamal and Gaby ran along the scaffold so they could get a closer look.

"I'll go to get Rob," Jamal said. "You need to get Alex…and have him get backup."

"Ghostwriter can do that," Gaby said, writing on her hand. "I'm staying with you."

"Gaby…"

"I'm not letting you wind up like Rob!" Gaby hissed.

Jamal frowned but then noticed the name of the office.

"Hey," he said. "This is the Different Spokes Warehouse."

"So?"

"So…that gives me an idea," he said. "But…I'll need your help."

"Now that's more like it."

In the office, the thugs kept a hold of Rob, who was trying to stay calm. But then Janice returned with someone he recognized and had hoped to never see again.

"Well well," the man said. "If it isn't the white boy."

"Miguel?" Rob breathed.

"Now this is a _personal_ favor," Janice said to Miguel. "So if you like…"

"Oh this one's on the house," Miguel said, cracking his knuckles. "Any specific instructions?"

"Just make sure his _girlfriend_ won't get anything out of him…ever…again," Janice grinned.

"My pleasure," Miguel said.

Rob swallowed hard as Janice left the office. Miguel took out a switchblade and slowly approached him.

"You got lucky last time, white boy," he said. "Say goodbye to your little _friend_…"


	3. Chapter 3

Y2K – PART THREE

Just as Miguel started pointing the switchblade at Rob, someone kicked the door in. Gaby flew in and kicked the switchblade out of Miguel's hand, also swinging a skateboard at the thugs holding Rob. Rob ducked as the thugs got the skateboard in the face. He then jumped up and grabbed it, as Gaby kicked at another of the thugs. Rob grabbed her and got on the board, pushing his way out of the room.

"Come on, Jamal!" Gaby called.

Jamal jumped after them, grabbing a dirt bike by the door. Rob let go of Gaby, who jumped on another one.

"Go!" Jamal called.

The three of them beat it out of the warehouse, but there were soon more thugs on bikes and boards chasing them.

"Split up!" Jamal called.

Rob nodded and jumped his board over a railing. The thugs on boards went after him, but those on bikes stayed behind Jamal and Gaby. Then there was the sound of sirens.

"About time Alex," Gaby muttered.

The thugs dispersed at the sound of the police. Jamal and Gaby were able to stop and catch their breath.

"Where's…Rob?" Gaby panted.

"Here he comes," Jamal said.

Rob was heading down a hill to the right, where he jumped the board over a bush and landed next to them. He then jumped off of it and kicked it up to his hand.

"Man," he said. "That was _awful_ close."

"I'll say," Gaby said. "I totally forgot about that magazine."

"Me too," Rob said, shaking his head. "If it weren't for you guys…"

Gaby bit her lip as Rob rubbed his belt and Jamal narrowed his eyes.

"Who was that?" he asked.

"Miguel," Rob frowned. "Leader of the Thunderheads. Same one that beat me up last time."

"So…the Thunderheads are part of this?" Gaby asked.

"No," Rob said, shaking his head. "It sounded like they sometimes work for them. Janice was willing to pay Miguel…but he turned it down since he wanted to beat me up anyway."

"Yeah," said Jamal. "George said something about…the big boss."

"That must be whoever Alex was talking about," Gaby said. "If we get the big boss…all the little guys will run."

"And Janice is one of the little guys," Jamal nodded. "She also said something about…Y2K."

"Well that's all over the news," said Rob. "People are so _sure_ that their computers will go nuts once we reach the year 2000."

"But what does that have to do with targeting gay people?" Gaby wondered.

They looked at each other as Alex came over.

"Sorry guys," he said. "Only one we got was Miguel."

"Don't be sorry about that," Rob said. "You have any idea what he was going to _do_ to me?"

Alex raised his eyebrows as Gaby bit her lip and Jamal shook his head.

"Try not to think about it," Jamal said. "We got you out of there."

"Yeah," Rob said, running his hand through his hair. "Just…_please_ don't tell Lenni about that."

"Oh we won't," Gaby said. "But chee whiz Rob. Why's it always _you_?"

"Search me," Rob said.

"Did you find out anything?" Jamal asked, turning to Alex.

"Nothing," Alex frowned. "But we're going to search the place up and down."

"We should have Ghostwriter search too," Gaby said.

"Yeah," said Jamal. "We should head back to my place."

Jamal and Gaby got on the bikes as Rob turned to Alex.

"You talk to Victor?"

"Yeah," Alex said. "He's been hearing rumors…and finds them very annoying. Plans on taking Jasmine to Times Square on New Year's Eve."

"What?" Jamal asked.

Alex bit his lip and Rob sighed as Jamal glared at them.

"Jamal…Victor's been seeing Jasmine for the past few weeks," Rob said.

"Sorry," Alex added.

Jamal gave a heavy sigh and nodded.

"Figured as much."

Jamal rode off and Gaby sighed and followed him.

Meanwhile, Lenni and Tina were having Ghostwriter find other clues. Tina wrote them down in the casebook and tapped her chin.

"So…we know this group is associated with some church in the Midwest," Tina said. "But…I can't believe a church would be hurting people."

"Well I do," Lenni frowned. "There's some people who use religion as an excuse to be mean to gays. They totally forget that Jesus taught about _forgiveness_ and _compassion_."

Tina raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't know you were religious."

"Well I'm not normally," Lenni sighed. "But _Rob_ is. That's why he doesn't approve of the gay lifestyle."

"But…he doesn't mind that Hector's gay?" Tina asked.

"No," Lenni said. "Rob says it's not his job to _judge_ Hector. His job is to be his _friend_…no matter _what_ he does."

Tina gave a nod.

"When did Rob get so religious though?"

"Well religious studies are actually _required_ in Australia," Lenni said. "Rob got involved with a church there…and wants _me_ to be more serious about God if we're going to keep dating."

Tina nodded and gave a laugh.

"Funny," she said. "Alex said the opposite."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Tina said. "I'm Buddhist…but Alex is Catholic. So if _we_ want to keep dating, we have to be _less_ serious about religion. It's one reason we keep breaking up."

"It is?" Lenni asked.

"Yeah," Tina sighed. "Alex has been getting more into his church and stuff. He wants me to go with him sometimes, but I feel like I'd be turning my back on my family. We're still trying to find a good compromise."

Lenni nodded as Ghostwriter returned, sending them another message.

_Big Boss_

_Y2K_

"Huh?" asked Lenni. "What's Y2K?"

"There's talk of that on the news," Tina said, writing the clues down. "People are afraid all the computers will shut down when we hit the year 2000…and go back to 1900."

"But…what does that have to do with the case?"

"No idea," Tina said.

Lenni scratched her head.

"And what does the _K_ stand for?"

"It stands for a thousand," Tina said. "The _Y_ stands for _year_…so Y2K is Year 2000."

"Huh," said Lenni. "So…this doesn't necessarily have to do with the computers going crazy. It just has something to do with the year 2000."

"Well…true," said Tina.

"So what if…this just means this group is _planning_ something for New Year's Eve?" Lenni asked.

"Hey yeah," said Tina. "Like…hurting the people on that list!"

"Including Hector," Lenni swallowed.

They looked back at the computer as another message arrived.

_Big Boss – Plan set for NYC Times Square – Y2K – ready for positions_

Jamal sighed as he sat in the grass at the park. He had gone by the Different Spokes store to return the dirt bike, but didn't feel like returning home just yet. He only looked up when Gaby joined him.

"You okay?" she asked.

"I'll be fine," he sighed. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised that Jasmine's seeing someone else by now. I was too busy to call or write or anything."

"Just like you were too busy for karate classes?" Gaby asked.

"Yeah," Jamal said, giving a sad smile. "I guess I should relax a bit."

"Well…that all depends."

Jamal looked at her and she shrugged.

"I mean…school is really important to you," she said. "And that should be where you put all your efforts right now."

"Yeah but…how is it that _Rob_ can handle both a girlfriend _and_ school?" Jamal asked.

"Why don't you ask _him_?" Gaby said.

Jamal looked up and saw Rob coming on the skateboard.

"Ask me what?" he asked.

"How do you handle college and Lenni at the same time?" Gaby asked. "I'm sure Lenni in particular is _very_ demanding."

Rob let out a laugh.

"She can be," he said. "But…I'm in school _because_ of Lenni…and she knows that."

"Huh?" asked Jamal.

Rob kicked up the skateboard, catching it in his hand before he plopped down in the grass next to them.

"Lenni knows that if I don't go to college, I won't be able to support her," he said. "And the music business is very risky. She may or may not be able to support herself long term…so she's going to need _me_ to have a steady job."

"So…it's for her benefit that you study," Jamal said.

"Yeah," Rob sighed. "As much as I want to spend more time with her, she knows I have to go to class."

Jamal nodded as Gaby cocked her head.

"I think she's also glad you're back from Australia," she said. "For years she didn't see you at _all_."

"That's true too," Rob said. "Although she still likes getting letters."

Jamal raised an eyebrow.

"You still send her letters?"

"Sure," Rob said. "But now I just leave them at her house for her to find. Put the last one in the freezer."

Jamal and Gaby laughed.

"Does she write back?" Gaby giggled.

"Every time," Rob smiled. "But she just hands them to me in person…and uh…makes me pay postage."

"What _kind_ of postage?" Jamal asked.

"Probably kisses," Gaby grinned.

Rob said nothing but winked at Gaby before he got up.

"Better return the skateboard," he said. "You heading back to your place?"

"Yeah," Jamal said. "You want me to send Lenni home?"

"If you don't mind," Rob said. "I don't carry a key to her place…and want to get something to eat."

"She doesn't trust you enough to have a key?" Gaby asked.

"No," Rob said. "_I_ don't trust me enough to have a key."

Jamal got home just as Alex was leaving with Tina and Lenni. Gaby joined them and gave Jamal a smile and a pat on the back. Jamal sighed and nodded as he went upstairs. Once there, he went over the casebook and saw what Lenni and Tina had found.

"Times Square?" he asked. "Positions?"

Jamal was wondering about this when the phone rang. His grandmother called, saying it was for him, so he went to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Jamal! Finally, someone is home!"

"Hector? What's wrong?"

"The family reunion was getting crazy," Hector said. "Too many people asking questions and I had to get away. I came back with my mom…and then went to play handball this afternoon…but now this creepy guy is following me everywhere!"

Jamal jumped up.

"Where are you?"

"I'm at a pay phone at the park. By the handball court."

"Get to the bodega," Jamal said. "Alex and Rob are there…and I'm coming!"

Hector hung up the phone and made his way towards the bodega. But then a large figure loomed up in front of him.

"Going somewhere Shrimp?"


	4. Chapter 4

Y2K – PART FOUR

Hector swallowed hard and backed up, but someone else was behind him and gripped his arms.

"Wh…What do you want, George?" Hector asked, bravely as he could.

"I don't want nothing," George said. "But the Big Boss wants plenty of _your_ type. And they all gonna meet the same fate as your friend, _Baker_."

Hector swallowed but then Alex and Rob rushed in. They pulled Hector away from the other man while George and his friends ran off. Hector breathed again as the girls ran up to them.

"Boy am I glad to see you guys," Hector said.

"Don't mention it," Gaby said.

"What're you doing back?" Alex asked.

"I'll uh…talk inside," Hector said.

"Come over to my place," Lenni told him.

The team gathered at Lenni's and Jamal arrived as well, glad Hector was safe. Lenni gave Hector some strong tea.

"Thanks," he said. "If I knew I was gonna get jumped, I might've stayed in Philadelphia."

"So…why did you come back?" Tina asked. "It's not even Christmas yet."

"Well I…told my cousin something yesterday," Hector sighed. "And now the whole family knows. Most are okay but…there's a few that aren't."

Hector bit his lip and looked at Rob, who gave a sigh.

"Hector," he said, heavily. "They already know."

"What?" Hector asked. "But you said you wouldn't tell them!"

"I didn't tell them," Rob said. "But a case came up. And your name was on the list."

Hector raised his eyebrows.

"What list?"

Alex sighed and showed it to him.

"_This_ list."

Hector looked at it and shook his head.

"Oh man," he said. "The rumors are true. They're coming after us."

"You heard about them?" Jamal asked.

"Yeah," Hector said. "From friends…that are like me. Most of them are on here too. One reason I went to Philadelphia."

"Well it's good you're back," Gaby said. "You need to help us protect your friends from these people…and whatever it is they're going to do to all of you on New Year's Eve."

"New Year's?"

They showed Hector what clues they had and told him what they had overheard at the warehouse.

"Something about a plan for New Year's," Alex said.

"And Ghostwriter found something about Times Square," said Lenni.

"Well George said…something about…me and my friends will meet the same fate as…Baker?" Hector asked.

Hector looked at Rob who jumped up.

"He said _what_?"

"That we're going to meet the same fate as _you_," Hector said.

"I guess George didn't know you got away," Jamal said.

"Got away from _what_ exactly?" Lenni demanded.

Rob gave a groan and waved to Jamal, who took a deep breath.

"They uh…had a guy going after him…with a knife."

"A knife!" Lenni gasped.

"Yeah," Gaby said. "He was uh…gonna cut something off."

Lenni gave a cry and ran to Rob, hugging him tight. He sighed and shook his head.

"I'm fine, Lenni," he said. "Jamal and Gaby came to bust me out."

"But…do you mean…" Hector started.

"I'm afraid so," Jamal said. "We have to warn your friends to stay away from Times Square on New Year's Eve."

Hector frowned and looked at the list.

"I'll take care of it."

For the next few days, things seemed to calm down. Alex checked the police reports and there was nothing else about the group. Everyone celebrated Christmas as usual, although Hector and his mother went to celebrate with Alex and Gaby's family and Rob was with Lenni's. On Christmas afternoon, Gaby took a plate of cookies to Jamal's house.

"Hey," Jamal said. "Merry Christmas, Gab."

"Merry Christmas," Gaby said. "Here's your annual tray of cookies."

"Oh I'll take those, Sugar."

Jamal sighed as his Grandmother came and took the cookies and Gaby giggled.

"Merry Christmas, Sugar."

"Better than, Jammy Jam," he said. "My sister was here earlier."

"You might want to check the doorway too," his grandmother called. "She was running around with mistletoe."

Jamal and Gaby both looked up and saw there was mistletoe right over their heads. Then they looked at each other with wide eyes. Jamal licked his lips a bit and Gaby fidgeted.

"Oh, why not?" she said finally.

Gaby jumped up and quickly kissed Jamal, right on the lips before running out of the house. Jamal stumbled back a bit, touching his mouth and blinking.

"Woah."

Two days later, Alex called another rally, this time at Lenni's house. When the team arrived, he said that there was now more information on the Big Boss.

"They know he's called Slade," Alex said.

"That's not much to go on," Jamal said.

"But…I've heard that name before," Rob said.

"Where?" asked Tina.

"I'm not sure," Rob said.

"Well…maybe Ghostwriter can find it," Lenni suggested.

Lenni typed the request in the computer and Ghostwriter zipped out to look for the name. He came back later with the title of a book.

"Hey," Rob said. "That's our textbook for Psychology."

"Is Slade in your class?" asked Hector.

"There's over a hundred people in that class," Rob sighed.

"There's more," said Gaby.

_HackerPower: Cough up the dough, Slade._

_Slade: No dice. You lost the game._

_HackerPower: You dirty cheat. You owe me!_

_Slade: I owe you nothing. You lost, Sucker._

"Hey," said Jamal. "That looks like a computer conversation…like in a chat room."

"Slade must be the guy's handle!" Lenni said.

"But…who's HackerPower?" asked Alex.

"It reminds me of what Erica said when we had the Max Mouse case," Tina said.

"Erica!" Rob said. "She's in that class. And she's mentioned Slade before."

"She has?" Lenni asked him.

"She was talking about some guy named Slade…and Calvin was getting jealous," Rob said, almost laughing.

"It looks like Slade is someone she knows online," said Jamal. "Maybe Ghostwriter can track him through the computer like he did with Max Mouse."

"And you need to see what Erica knows about him," Lenni said.

"I'm on it," Rob nodded.

Rob found Calvin and Erica having coffee at a place around the corner from The Party Animal. Calvin made a face at him but Erica grinned.

"I heard you had a close call," she grinned.

"Oh for…what is it with people these days?"

"You're the one dating a celebrity," Calvin shrugged.

"Yeah yeah," Rob said, making a face. "I need to ask you guys about somebody. Goes by _Slade_."

Erica made a face.

"What you want with that dirty rotten cheat?"

"Cheat?" Rob asked.

"He bought _loads_ of cameras from me," she said. "And now he's stiffing me on the bill just because I lost a computer game."

Rob paused and blinked.

"Cameras?"

"Yeah," Erica said. "Over $1500 worth of cameras. Needed them for some operation on New Year's Eve."

"Cameras?" Lenni asked.

"Yeah," Rob said, pacing the room. "Slade bought _cameras_ from Erica…and won't pay the bill. They're part of whatever they're planning to do."

Lenni looked at Tina, who was still at her house to go over some music videos. Tina then gave a nod.

"What if…what George said about Rob…isn't referring to the warehouse?" Tina asked.

"Huh?" Lenni asked.

Tina picked up the magazine with Rob and Lenni's photo on it.

"What if he was referring to _this_?" Tina asked. "They'll use cameras…on New Year's Eve…"

"And take pictures of people at midnight!" Lenni said.

"And then show those pictures _everywhere_," Tina gasped.

"Or else use them to find out who really _is_ gay…so they can target them later," Rob frowned.

Lenni sighed and shook her head.

"But how do we _stop _them?"

Tina tapped her chin and looked at Rob.

"Did Erica say anything else about the cameras the guy bought?"

"She was going to find the list of what she sold the guy," Rob said. "They all got serial numbers. I'm supposed to call her later."

Lenni frowned at this and crossed her arms.

"How about _Tina_ calls her?" she asked.

"Still jealous, are you?" Rob grinned.

"A bit," Lenni said. "Tina also knows cameras better than you do."

The next day, Gaby arrived at her karate class early and saw Jamal was practicing. She smiled as she put her bag down and joined him.

"Decided you needed to brush up, huh?" Gaby asked.

"Well…after recent events…," Jamal said, doing a kick.

"Yeah," Gaby said. "I'm glad we were there."

"And Rob is _really_ glad we were there," Jamal said, shaking his head. "And I'm sure glad it wasn't _me_."

Gaby giggled as they went to sparring until class started. Afterwards, they continued to practice when the other students went home.

"Man," Jamal said. "I've gotten awfully rusty."

"We should meet to practice tomorrow," Gaby said. "I mean…you heard about the big operation on New Year's Eve, right?"

"Yeah," Jamal said. "I'm working on a prototype to take out those cameras. I just hope Tina's right about _those_ being the weapon of choice…rather than knives."

"Rob sure hopes so too," Gaby swallowed. "But we need to be prepared for both."

They practiced sparring a while longer. Gaby then looked at the clock and sighed.

"I gotta get back," she said. "My turn to run the register."

"Yeah," Jamal said. "But uh…we can meet here tomorrow…for more practice."

"Okay," Gaby said.

Jamal picked up his bag as Gaby nervously looked at him.

"Um…about what happened at uh…Christmas…"

"Oh…don't worry about it," Jamal said quickly.

"You're not mad?"

"No," he said. "I was just…a little surprised…is all."

"Yeah," she said, blushing. "I was too…and I'm the one that did it."

"Well…like I said…don't worry about it," Jamal said. "I'll see you tomorrow, Gabster."

Gaby grinned.

"Bye Sugar."

On New Year's Eve, in Times Square, the various team members were ready, along with some extra help. Ghostwriter flew about, showing them where the known group members where positioned, ready with cameras and following people from their list. Tina found her target first and slipped up behind him casually in the crowd. Armed with a special magnet Jamal had put together, she was able to rub the back of his camera while he was scoping the crowd and quickly slipped away.

"One down," she whispered.

In other places in Times Square, the rest of the team was doing the same thing. They knew which cameras to target from a list provided by Erica Dansby. She and Calvin also used the magnets to erase the film from several other cameras.

"Now see," Erica said. "If these idiots would switch to _digital_…"

"We wouldn't be able to get back at Slade for stiffing you," Calvin said.

"True," Erica nodded. "But I was really hoping to use the money to replenish my stock with the latest model."

Elsewhere, Hector was whispering to several of his friends. Most of them agreed not to do the traditional New Year's Eve kiss, but a few wanted to anyway.

"It's high time we stopped being ashamed," he said.

"Well…it's your decision," Hector said. "But there's people here that want to take your photo…and might go after you later. They may even go after you _now_."

"And I appreciate the warning," said another of his friends. "Best if we hold off."

"Or we can do our own thing at 1 am," a girl suggested.

"Or we can throw them off by actually kissing girls," said another of the guys.

"Up to you," Hector said.

Everyone waited with baited breath as the ball dropped to ring in year 2000. In fact, the whole country was waiting to see if something huge would happen. But as the ball dropped, everyone cheered and thousands of couples shared a kiss. A few dozen cameras went off, but then there was a sound of cursing, as none of them were working and the film was ruined.

"Ha," Alex said. "You're brilliant, Tina!"

"I know," she grinned.

Alex smiled at her and she blushed. He then leaned in and kissed her, while she happily kissed him back. Not far away, Calvin and Erica were also sharing a New Year's kiss, as were Rob and Lenni. In another spot though, Jamal was frowning.

"Uh oh," he said. "Looks like that guy's camera worked."

"Oh shoot," Gaby said. "We must not have got it with the magnet. Now what?"

"Back up plan," Jamal said. "You ready?"

Gaby nodded as Jamal walked some distance away. She then started jumping around and shouting.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR! HAPPY NEW MILLENIUM!"

As Gaby jumped, she let out a kick and the camera flew out of the man's hand. He let out a cry, but Jamal jumped up and grabbed it.

"Oh I'm so sorry!" Gaby said to the man.

"That camera had better not be damaged!" the man fumed at her.

"I think it's all right, Sir," Jamal said.

The man didn't notice Jamal rubbing a magnet on the back of the camera. He meekly handed it back and the man snatched it, swearing under his breath as he stormed off. Gaby let out her breath as Jamal came over to her.

"Nice work," he said.

"Thanks," Gaby said. "I just hope he doesn't…"

"Hey!" a man cried. "My film!"

Jamal and Gaby gasped and bolted, running through the maze of people. The man came after them, scanning the crowd.

"He might still see us," Gaby said.

"I have an idea," Jamal said.

Gaby gasped, as Jamal suddenly kissed her, burying his hands in her curly hair. She caught on quickly and kissed him back, holding him tight. She opened one eye and saw the man pass by, still looking through the various people for them. She pulled Jamal tighter and continued kissing him, her heart racing. Jamal finally pulled away from her and looked over his shoulder.

"I think he's gone," he said, breathing hard.

"That was close," Gaby said, still clinging to him.

Jamal looked at her, biting his lip.

"Yeah," he said. "_Really_ close."

He turned back to Gaby, who blushed as she looked into his dark eyes. He then gave a shy smile and leaned in, kissing her gently this time. Gaby sighed, kissing him back.


	5. Chapter 5

MY DAUGHTER, MY SON – PART ONE

Gaby bit her lip as she knocked on the door of the Jenkins' house. She smiled when Grandma Cece opened it for her.

"Come on in, Gaby," she said.

"Thanks," Gaby said. "I really appreciate your help with my history project."

"Oh no trouble at all," Cece said. "But it's really Reggie who knows more about the family history. He'll be home in a few minutes."

Gaby nodded and took a seat on the sofa, looking around.

"It's kind of weird…being here when Jamal's not home," she said.

"Oh I know," Cece sighed. "I can hardly believe my little grandson is all grown-up and in college."

She then gave Gaby a sly grin.

"And it's _really_ hard to believe he's so taken with _you_."

Gaby swallowed hard as her face went red, but Cece just patted her shoulder.

"Sorry," she said. "I shouldn't be making assumptions."

"Oh…that's okay," Gaby sighed. "I'm just…still a little confused about it."

"You want to talk about it?"

Gaby nodded, so Cece sat down. Gaby then pulled out a letter she had and showed it to her. Cece looked at it and raised her eyebrows.

"He wrote to you?"

"Yeah," Gaby said. "I uh…got this on Valentine's Day."

Gaby blushed again as Cece folded her hands.

"Well?"

Gaby swallowed again.

"Well…he says…I'm not a little girl anymore. And he uh…really likes me."

"Oh I know," Cece said. "And he's right. "You're what? Sixteen now?"

"Almost sixteen," Gaby sighed. "But he's nineteen…and in college."

"Does that bother you?"

"Well…not too much."

Cece gave her a look.

"Does the fact that we're _black_ bother you?"

"No," Gaby said quickly.

"I'm just asking, Sweetie," Cece said, patting her hand. "Even today, there are _still_ people who would have a problem with that."

"Well I don't," Gaby said. "I mean, Alex is dating Tina again…and she's Asian."

"I know," Cece smiled. "And they are so _cute _together."

Cece then looked at Gaby again.

"So what _does_ bother you about it?"

Gaby gave a sigh.

"Just that…I never thought of Jamal that way…before," she said. "He was always like…an older brother. And he always thought of me as a little sister. But it's changing from how it used to be…and it's really weird."

Cece nodded and patted her shoulder.

"It will feel strange for a while," she said. "But things _do_ change as you get older…and it's not all bad when they do."

Gaby nodded as Cece looked up. Reginald Jenkins had just returned from work and smiled at Gaby.

"Ah," he said. "You all ready to hear about great-grandpa Ezra?"

"Yes Mister Jenkins," Gaby smiled. "And uh…thanks Grandma Cece."

"I'm glad we got a chance to talk, Gaby," Cece smiled.

* * *

Later that day, Gaby went to visit Lenni so she could use her computer to start working on her paper. When she got to the loft, she saw Rob was also there, although working at a laptop on the counter while eating a sandwich.

"You do your homework here?" Gaby asked.

"Not normally," he said. "But I should be ready to print soon…and I do that here."

"You don't let him do homework here?" she asked Lenni.

"Ha," Lenni said. "I wish he _would_. But says I'm something of a distraction."

Rob gave her a look and Gaby giggled and turned on the computer. She sat down and started working on her paper. The loft was actually plenty quiet, even though Lenni was in and out of the room, mostly sorting laundry and doing dishes. After a while, Rob gave a nod and brought the laptop over to the printer.

"Is uh…Lenni allowed to distract you now?" Gaby grinned.

"Oh very funny," Rob said.

"Well why else would you print over here?" Gaby asked.

"I don't charge him five cents a page like the computer lab does," Lenni said.

"And even they're cheaper than Calvin is," he said. "Erica gave him her old printer…and he charges _twenty_ cents a page."

"What?" Gaby asked. "That's crazy!"

"Oh that's nothing," Rob said. "What's crazy is that there's a few guys in the dorm that are lazy enough to pay that much."

Gaby raised her eyebrows as Rob collected his paper and put it in a folder. He then went over to the phone, dialed it, shook his head, and hung up again.

"Phone is off the hook again," Rob said. "I'll be here for a while."

"Off the hook?" Gaby asked.

"Calvin takes the phone off the hook when he has _Erica_ over," Lenni said, giving a sly grin.

"And I _really_ don't want to walk in on anything when I get back," Rob groaned.

Gaby also made a face and turned back to her paper.

"I'll get back to the life of Ezra Jenkins," she said.

Rob and Lenni looked at each other and back at Gaby.

"Who's that?" Lenni asked.

"The great-grandfather of Jamal's great-grandfather," Gaby said. "He was a slave that taught himself to read…and would teach slave children how to read out in the woods."

"Wow," Rob said. "That for a history class?"

"Yeah," Gaby said. "Most of my paper is about the living conditions for the slaves on the plantations. Ezra Jenkins learned how to read, even though he wasn't supposed to know how. Then he was teaching the children on the plantation how to read at night."

Gaby sat back and let Rob and Lenni look at what she had written out so far. As they did, a ball of light also flew across the screen.

"Looks like Ghostwriter likes it too," Lenni said.

The ball of light blinked a few times and wrote on the screen.

_This story sounds familiar._

"Huh?" Rob asked.

"Why would it sound familiar?" Lenni wondered.

"I'll ask him," Gaby said, typing.

_What is familiar to you?_

The ball of light blinked a few times and wrote again.

_I remember children in the woods._


	6. Chapter 6

MY DAUGHTER, MY SON – PART TWO

"Oh wow," Gaby said.

"But…what does this mean?" Rob asked.

"It means we should call a rally," Lenni said. "The team needs to know about this."

"But we can't rally _now_," Gaby said. "Hector and Alex are both working."

"Oh yeah," Lenni said. "Tina is too."

"Well…how about we sit on this until Spring Break?" Rob suggested. "Jamal will be here then…and we'll be out of school."

"You have the same Spring Break Jamal does?" Gaby asked.

"Yeah," Rob said. "I'm staying with him again."

Gaby cocked her head.

"Why is it you don't trust yourself to stay here?"

Rob raised an eyebrow as Lenni laughed.

"Kind of obvious, don't you think?" she asked.

"I just find it funny that _he's_ the one being so…careful," Gaby said. "It's usually the girl doing that."

"Well girls are usually _encouraged_ to be careful," Rob said. "They got a lot more at stake if something goes wrong. But guys are supposed to play around…or else everyone assumes they're gay."

Gaby raised her eyebrows as Lenni did a double-take.

"But…no one was thinking you were gay…were they?" she asked.

Rob gave a sigh and shook his head.

"Half the student body in Sydney thought I was gay," he said. "That's why the subject came up when I was writing to Hector."

"It is?" Gaby asked.

"Well yeah," Rob said. "I didn't really want to write to _Lenni_ about it…but the rumors were driving me nuts. Then Hector writes back and tells me something that I did _not_ know before…and it opened up a very interesting conversation."

Gaby blinked.

"And…that's why he told you first?"

"One reason," Rob said. "It's also easier to talk about personal stuff with people who happen to be far away."

"Well that's true," Gaby said. "Alex learned that the hard way. He's more careful now."

Lenni gave a laugh as Rob dialed his room again.

"Oh you're done?" he asked. "Again? Anything else? All right, fine. Bye."

Rob sighed and hung up the phone.

"How is it Calvin goes through milk so fast?"

* * *

That night, Gaby sighed as she lay in bed, thinking about Ghostwriter, the children, and Jamal. She always wondered if there was a connection between Jamal and Ghostwriter. After all, he was the first to see him.

"Children in the woods," Gaby said to herself, drifting off to sleep.

Deep in the woods on a dark night, six children with deep brown skin were gathered around a single candle. Three were girls and three were boys, the youngest nine and the oldest thirteen. Each of them had a single sheet of paper and a stub of graphite to write with. A man with even darker skin was whispering to them, instructing them in how to make the letters.

"M…A…N…spells _man_," he said with a deep voice. "C…A…N…spells _can_."

Gaby found that the voice sounded familiar, but she couldn't make out the man's face in the darkness. Nor could she see the children clearly.

"I did it Mister Ezra," one child whispered.

"Good," the man said. "F…A…N…spells _fan_. R…A…N…spells _ran_."

Ezra then stopped and listened.

"Run," he said.

"I thought it was _ran_," a child said.

"No _run_," Ezra said, his voice panicked. "The dogs!"

The children gasped and ran into the woods as Ezra blew out the candles. The sound of barking and snarling dogs was quickly moving towards them.

"NO!"

Gaby sat up with a start and found herself drenched with sweat. She looked up and saw a message.

_Bad dream?_

Gaby got out of bed and went to her desk, where she grabbed her pen.

_Yes._

_How do you feel?_

Gaby sighed, as she had had this conversation with Ghostwriter many times before.

_Like it was more than a dream. I saw Ezra teaching children in the woods. But then the dogs came and they had to run._

The light blinked and shuddered and then wrote again.

_I'm afraid._

Gaby sighed and wrote back.

_I'm sorry. I don't mean to scare you._

_I know. And I will try to be brave. This is important._

Gaby raised her eyebrows and wrote again.

_Why?_

_Because I don't think this is just a dream._

"But…what else could it be?" Gaby wondered.

_What is it then?_

Ghostwriter blinked before writing back.

_A memory._

* * *

"All right, Rob," Hector said. "Your bill is now settled."

"_Calvin's_ bill," Rob said, rolling his eyes. "I'm just the delivery boy."

"Well I'd rather have you over here than Calvin," Hector frowned. "He's a real jerk."

"Be glad you don't have to live with the guy," Rob said, looking at his watch. "Might as well grab some coffee."

Hector brought Rob some coffee and shook his head.

"You really should just have a key to Lenni's place," he said. "Then you wouldn't have to wait on her all the time."

"Out of the question," Rob said, sipping the coffee.

"Is that a religion thing too?" Hector asked.

Rob raised an eyebrow.

"You really want to know?"

"Well yeah," Hector said. "You're really weird sometimes."

Rob gave a laugh.

"I guess I am," he said. "But…this is more because…I'm scared."

Hector raised his eyebrows.

"Scared?"

"Yeah," Rob said. "I've…never been with a girl before."

"Oh," Hector said. "I thought you were scared of Hell or something."

Rob shook his head.

"A lot of people say that," he said. "But that's not how it works."

"No?"

"No," Rob said. "Once you're right with God…that's it. None of your past mistakes count against you. And none of the mistakes you make _now_ count against you either."

"None of them?"

"Not one," Rob said. "God knows that people are _not_ perfect…and we're going to mess up. No one is good enough on their own, which is why God sent Jesus to die on our behalf."

Hector blinked as Rob nodded.

"Like the way I paid the bill for Calvin," he said. "I settled it…so he's free and clear. Even if he _is_ something of a creep."

"Hmmm," Hector said. "That's an interesting way to put it."

"I do my best," Rob said.

Hector nodded again as Rob drank his coffee. Lenni then came in and gave a sigh.

"You really need to just carry a key," she said.

"Yeah," Hector said. "But it's cool that I get to hang out with him now. He's even weirder in person than he is in the letters."

Rob laughed as he followed Lenni upstairs. After having some lunch, Rob sat on the couch as Lenni leaned up next to him.

"I still wish you'd stay here over Spring Break," she said.

"I know," Rob sighed. "But…I really shouldn't."

"Rob…"

"Lenni…I told you this already," he said. "I just…really think it'd be better…to wait."

"I know," she whimpered. "And…you do have a point. It's just…"

Lenni sighed as Rob put an arm around her.

"Just what?" he asked.

Lenni gave him a nervous look.

"Are you…ashamed of me?"

Rob sighed and shook his head.

"Of course not," he said. "Don't even _think_ like that."

Lenni bit her lip as Rob ran a hand over her hair.

"The past is past," Rob said to her. "And just because you were with someone else for a while doesn't mean I love you any less."

"But…I _slept_ with him."

"Yeah I know," Rob said, making a face. "And I still can't believe you _told_ me about it."

"Well I had to tell _somebody_," Lenni sighed. "But Gaby would've told the whole school about it…and Tina…"

"…is the guy's sister," Rob nodded. "And…it _was_ good that you told me."

"How?" Lenni asked. "I mean…weren't you jealous?"

"Well of course I was jealous," Rob said. "But I was also something of a snob. That letter took me down a few notches."

Rob let out his breath and Lenni raised her eyebrows.

"I'm confused," she said.

"Well…I was too," Rob told her. "But see…I was kind of thinking…I was better than everyone else…since I had never done it before."

"You were?"

"Yeah," Rob sighed. "But once I read that _you_ did it…I kind of figured…maybe I wasn't as great as I thought I was. And maybe I shouldn't judge people who don't live the same way I do."

Lenni bit her lip.

"Was uh…this _before_ you knew about Hector?"

"Lenni…it was _right_ before the letter from Hector," Rob said. "It's like…God knew I needed to learn that first…so I wouldn't come down on him when he told me that."

Lenni nodded and leaned up against him again.

"You and Hector have a _very_ interesting friendship," she said.

"We do," Rob nodded. "We have _totally_ different opinions on things. But we also respect each other enough to share how we look at things without expecting the other person agree."

Lenni nodded again as she peered at Rob.

"But you still want _me_ to agree with you," she said.

"To a certain degree, yes," Rob said, looking at her. "I don't exactly plan on having kids with Hector."

Lenni gave a laugh as Rob grinned.

"Just uh…how many kids are you talking about?" Lenni asked.

"I'll let you determine that," Rob said, giving a nod. "But I'd like at _least_ one or two."

Lenni giggled as Rob pulled her closer.

* * *

"Cut," Tina called. "That's a take."

"Good," Gaby said. "I gotta get back to work on my paper."

"How's it coming?" Tina asked.

"Well…the paper's coming along fine," Gaby said. "But um…it seems…I might have found some more clues about who Ghostwriter is."

Tina let out a gasp.

"Really?" she asked. "Like what?"

Gaby told Tina about what they discovered the day before.

"And then I had a dream about it last night," Gaby said. "A slave called Ezra was teaching six kids to read deep in the woods at night. But they had to run when they heard barking dogs."

Tina gave a shudder.

"Sounds creepy."

"It was," Gaby said. "I mean…I'm glad I woke up…but I also want to know what happened. But Lenni and Rob think we should wait for Spring Break to discuss it with the team."

"Yeah," Tina nodded. "Jamal will be here then. And since Ezra was _his_ ancestor, he _really_ needs to know about it."

Gaby nodded again as Tina gave a sly smile.

"And _you _sure wouldn't mind seeing Jamal either."

"Hey!"

Tina giggled as Gaby made a face and grabbed her bag.

"I gotta get to the library," she said. "Let me see the tape when you're done."

"Okay."

Gaby went to the library and did some more research. As she wrote down some notes, Ghostwriter appeared again.

_I think I remember something._

Gaby let out a gasp and wrote in her notebook.

_What do you remember?_

_The name Emmaline._

Gaby raised her eyebrows and thought about this.

"Casey's mother was named Emmaline," she said. "So…maybe…she was named after someone in Jamal's family. I'll have to ask Mr. Jenkins about this."

Gaby finished up her research before going over to the Jenkins' house. After a visit with Jamal's father, she ran home and found Hector working.

"Hey," Hector said. "Where's the fire?"

"Oh I just found out something else exciting," Gaby said. "You know how I told you Ghostwriter was starting to remember stuff?"

"Yeah," Hector said. "Rob said we were going to talk about it with Jamal when he got here for Spring Break."

"Well I just found out something _else_," Gaby said. "Casey's mom was named after Emmaline Jenkins."

"Oh," Hector said. "So?"

"So…Emmaline Jenkins…taught Ezra Jenkins how to _read_," Gaby said. "She was the master's daughter."

"Huh?" Hector said. "I thought he was a slave."

"He _was_," Gaby said patiently. "The slaves had the same names as their _masters._ Ezra's name was Jenkins because the Jenkins family owned him."

"Oh!" Hector said. "I guess…that makes sense. And the guy's daughter taught him to read?"

"Right," Gaby said. "And it really helped the family. Ezra's kids were able to escape and got as far as New York when the Civil War started. And since they were able to read…"

"….they had an advantage over the people that _couldn't_," Hector said, his eyes wide.

"Exactly," Gaby told him. "They owed _everything_ to Emmaline Jenkins, which is why Grandma Cece named Casey's mom after her."

Hector nodded as Gaby ran to put her books away. She then came back to help him close up the store so he could go home. Later that night, she lay back in bed with a smile on her face.

"Emmaline Jenkins…"

Gaby dreamed about a woman. She was a white woman, who bore a strong resemblance to Lenni. She was walking through a fine house with a candle and went into a room. The room was full of shelves, lined with a great many books. And sitting on the floor was a young slave, who stood when she entered the room.

"Miss Emmaline," he said.

"Shhh Ezra," Emmaline told him, closing the door. "I'm supposed to be in bed…as are you."

The slave nodded and sat again. He looked a lot like Jamal, only somewhat older and with a lot more hair. Emmaline sat on the floor with him, setting down the candle and taking out the book. After an hour or so of reading practice, she gave a sigh.

"You'll be on your own soon," she said.

"What?" Ezra asked. "Why?"

"Jonathan Frazier has proposed," she said. "My father wants me to accept."

Ezra nodded and patted her hand.

"The Frenchman is a fine man for you," he said.

Emmaline smiled.

"He is a fine man," she said. "But he'll be taking me all the way to New Orleans. Who will take care of you?"

"The Good Lord will take care of me and the others," Ezra said. "And I will pass on what you have taught me."

Emmaline nodded as she bit her lip.

"Do be careful Ezra," she said.

"Don't worry about me, Miss Emmaline," Ezra said.

* * *

Gaby was still wondering about the dream when she did her shift at the bodega after school. She had written to Ghostwriter, who assured her that it was another memory.

_Emmaline married Mr. Frazier and moved to New Orleans._

Gaby nodded and had asked Ghostwriter if she was a grandmother of Lenni's. Although the name was the same, Ghostwriter wasn't sure, so she made a mental note to ask Lenni about it later. But Lenni had been working all day and when the door opened, Gaby gave a sigh.

"Oh," she said. "Hi Calvin. Did Rob refuse to get groceries today?"

"More like he's getting back at me," Calvin said, rolling his eyes. "I was over here to visit my mother, so he gave _me_ a list."

Gaby laughed as Calvin grabbed several things from the shelves while looking at a list in his hand. He brought them over to the counter and saw Gaby's notebook.

"What's all that?" he asked.

"School project," Gaby said, ringing him up. "I'm working on a paper about the conditions of the slaves just before the Civil War."

"Oh," Calvin said. "I did a paper like that once. Used an old diary of my great-great…few more greats… grandfather. He was a slave-catcher in Pennsylvania."

"A slave-_catcher_?" Gaby said, making a face.

"Hey," Calvin said, giving a shrug. "They made a lot of money. Craziest story in the diary was when he caught a guy carrying a book."

Gaby raised her eyebrows.

"A _book_?"

"Yeah," Calvin said. "A huge thick book. He thought it was funny since they weren't supposed to know how to read."

Gaby bit her lip.

"What uh…happened to him?"

"It wasn't pretty," Calvin said, shaking his head. "The slave was torn apart by the dogs…which was too bad. He'd have been worth a lot of money if he could really read."

Gaby frowned but then remembered who she was talking to.

"What about the book?"

"The book?"

"Yeah," she said. "You said he had a big book with him."

"He did," Calvin said. "He sold the book to an Italian Immigrant that was trying to learn English. The guy ran a bakery, but no one could pronounce his real name, so they called him Mr. Baker."

Gaby raised her eyebrows.

"Baker?"

"Yeah," Calvin said. "Already asked Rob if he might have been related to him. And Rob _did_ have ancestors that were actual bakers, which is where the name came from. But he said he'd have to check with his dad…and he's not getting along with him at the moment."

"Uh oh," Gaby said.

"Ah, they'll work through it," Calvin said, waving a hand. "He was gonna write to him again. How much do I owe you?"

* * *

Gaby was rather eager to get to bed that night, as she wondered what she would dream this time. Sure enough, as soon as she feel asleep, she pictured a bakery. She could smell the fresh bread as the tall man pulled a pan out of the oven. He bore a very strong resemblance, not really to Rob, but definitely to Colonel Baker. But the man who came into the bakery _definitely_ looked like Calvin and even had the same wily smile.

"Mr. Baker."

"Mr. Ferguson," the baker said with a thick Italian accent. "How can I help you?"

"I thought you'd be interested in this."

Ferguson showed Baker a large thick book. Baker looked at it with interest and rubbed his chin.

"How much?"

"How much you got?"

"That depends," said the baker. "Do you accept bread?"

After a lot of haggling back and forth, the baker finally bought the book with a little bit of money and a week's supply of bread for Ferguson's family. He then opened the book and looked at an inscription in the corner.

"Emmaline Jenkins," he said. "Jenkins?"


End file.
